So! A lot of believers think the Christ, Jesus, will return all lovey-dovey. And there are the non believers who see Israel being wiped off the face of the earth in a soon to take place war with neighboring Arab nations. Whats the real story?
Battle of Armageddon.
Rev. 19:11-21.
The "Tribulation Period" will close with the great "Battle of Armageddon." As we have seen the armies of the East and the West will be assembled in the Holy Land by the "Demon Spirits" that shall be sent forth from the mouths of the "Satanic Trinity." The field of battle will be the "Valley of Megiddo," located in the heart of Palestine, the battlefield of the great battles of the Old Testament. The forces engaged will be the "Allied Armies" of Antichrist on the one side, and the "Heavenly Army" of Christ on the other. The "time" will be when the "Harvest of the Earth" IS RIPE, (Rev. 14:15), and at the "Psychological Moment" when the "Allied Armies" of Antichrist are about to take the city of Jerusalem.
The Prophet Zechariah says-
"Behold the 'Day of the Lord' cometh." (The "Day of the Lord" is the Millennial Day.) When-"I will Gather All Nations Against Jerusalem to Battle . . . Then shall the Lord Go Forth and Fight Against Those Nations." Zech. 14:1-3.
This "going forth" is graphically described in Rev. 19:11-21. When He came the first time to Jerusalem as King, He rode on a "colt," the foal of an ass, (Matt. 21:1-11), this time He shall come on a "White Horse." His eyes will be as a "flame of fire" and on His head shall be "many crowns," and He shall be clothed in a vesture "dipped in blood." Not His own blood but the blood of His enemies.
The Prophet Isaiah foresaw that day-
"Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?" And the answer comes back-"I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save." Then the Prophet asks, "Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the Winefat ?" And the response is-"I have trodden the wine-press alone; and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all My Raiment." Isa. 63:1-6.
That this does not refer to Christ's atonement on the Cross is clear, for the Prophet adds-
"For the 'Day of Vengeance' is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come."
There was no "vengeance" in Christ's heart on the Cross. It was "Father 'forgive them' for they know not what they do." The time the Prophet foretells, is the "Day of Christ's Vengeance" on His enemies, and the day when He shall redeem His chosen people the Jews from the power of Antichrist. It is the time when He shall tread-
"THE WINEPRESS'
Of the Fierceness and Wrath of
Almighty God."
The Apostle John had a vision of this "Winepress" in chapter fourteen, verses 14 to 20. That was before the pouring out of the "Vials," and was a prophetic foreview of what should happen in chapter nineteen.
In verses 18 to 20, an angel with a "sharp sickle" is told to-
"Thrust in thy Sharp Sickle, and gather the clusters of the 'Vine of the Earth,' for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his Sickle into the earth, and gathered of the 'Vine of the Earth,' and cast it into the Great Winepress of the wrath of God." And we read that "The Winepress was trodden Without the City, and blood, (not wine), came out of the Winepress, even unto the horses' bridles, by the space of a Thousand and Six Hundred Furlongs."
From this we see that the "Allied Armies" of Antichrist will cover the whole of Palestine, and so great shall be the slaughter, that, in the valleys and hollows, all over the whole of Palestine, for the length of Palestine as far south as Bozrah is 1600 furlongs or 200 miles, the blood shall be up to the horses' bridles.
It will be the time of which Isaiah speaks, when the land shall be "Soaked With Blood."
Isa. 34:'1-8.
So great will be the carnage, God will prepare for it in advance.
"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of Heaven, (Buzzards, Vultures, Eagles, etc.), Come and gather yourselves together unto the
SUPPER OF THE GREAT GOD,
that ye may eat the flesh of Kings . . . Captains . . . Mighty Men. and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them,(common soldiers), and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great." Rev. 19:17, 18.
This "Feast" is described in 'the Old Testament.
And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God, Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come, gather yourselves on every side to My Sacrifice, that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the Mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the Mighty, and drink the blood of the Princes of the Earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlins of Bashan . And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken. . . . Thus ye shall be filled 'at My Table,' with horses and chariots (their occupants), with Mighty Men, and with all Men of War, saith the Lord God." Ez.39:1-22.
And in the same chapter we are told that the "House of Israel," the occupants of Palestine in that day, shall be seven months burying the bones of the dead, the flesh having been eaten by the birds 'and beasts of prey, and the wood from the weapons of warfare, army wagons, spears, etc., shall last the inhabitants of the land for fuel seven years, so that they will not have to take wood out of the field, nor cut down any out of the forests.
The words in Rev. 19:21, "and all the fowls were filled with their flesh," declare that those "Fowl Guests" will be GORGED WITH CARRION.
Then will be fulfilled the words of Jesus-"For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the Eagles (birds of prey) be gathered together." Matt. 24:27,.28. The eagle feeds mainly on fresh meat. The Hebrews classed the eagle among the birds of prey, such as the vulture.
The destruction of this great army will be brought about by the "sword" of Him who will head the Armies of Heaven. The "sword" that proceedeth out of the mouth of the "White Horse Rider," is not the "Sword of the Spirit," for that bringeth "Salvation", not destruction. The "sword" stands for some supernatural means of destruction, and as there is to be a "Great Hail" to fall from Heaven upon the enemies of God at this time, that may be the means God will use, for it was in that way that the enemies of Israel were destroyed on the same battlefield in the "Battle of Beth-Horon" in the days of Joshua. Joshua 10:1-11.
The issue of the "Battle of Armageddon" will never be in doubt. The previous summoning of the birds and beasts of prey, prove this. Before the destruction of the army of Antichrist, he and the False Prophet will be cast "alive" into the "Lake of Fire." This shows that they are not "Systems"' but "Persons," and as Enoch and Elijah were taken to Heaven without dying, so Antichrist and the False Prophet will be cast into the "Lake of Fire" without dying, and will be still there and alive when Satan is cast in a 1000 years later.
Before Antichrist is seized and cast into the "Lake of Fire," Satan will make his exit from his person, and after the battle is over, Satan will be bound and cast into the "Bottomless Pit," where he will be "Sealed up" for 1000 years. This is the culminating act of the "Tribulation Period."
Then begins the 1000 year period known as the
Biblically, the millennium refers to a thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. During this period man will know peace as designed by God and Jerusalem, Israel will no longer be the tail of nations but the head of all nations.